Grave Witch: Alex Craft Series, Book 1

Not even death can save her now. As a grave witch, Alex Craft can speak to the dead---she's even on good terms with Death himself. As a consultant for the police, she's seen a lot of dark magic, but nothing has prepared her for her latest case.

Excellent Story Narrator needs alot more practice

The story was way better when i read it than it was trying to listen to it. The narrator was like a text to speech reader. Most of the emphasis was ..Show More »poorly applied which made it sound like it was cobbled together from individually recorded words.

Aside from that the story was quite good i will definitely get the next book but i think i will read it myself rather than torture myself listening to a female Will Shatner read it to me. 4/5 for the actual book 1/5 for the audio attempt.

Grave Dance: Alex Craft Series, Book 2

After a month spent recovering from a vicious fight with a sorcerer, grave witch Alex Craft is ready to get back to solving murders by raising the dead. With her love life in turmoil, Alex is eager for the distractions of work. But her new case turns out to be a deadly challenge. The police hire Alex to consult on a particularly strange investigation in the nature preserve south of Nekros City. There are no corpses, only pieces....

Excellent continuation of this story.

This is the second book in the Alex Craft series and it was even better than the first book. The third book, Grave Memory, is already out. The fourt..Show More »h book, Grave Visions, is expected to release in August 2013.

I listened to this on audiobook again and it was a very well done audiobook. The narrator does an excellent job narrating the different character voices and portrays character emotion well. Definitely a series I will keep listening to.

Alex is called to a scene by the police to investigate a case of left feet. Yep, someone is finding a whole bunch of left feet and Alex senses dark magic attached to them. As Alex starts to investigate this dark magic someone starts to come after her. They are sending evil constructs to attack her and those she cares about. She must figure out this dark magic before it’s too late.

This was an excellent continuation of this series. This book shifts from just dealing with Alex's grave magic to exploring Alex's connection with Fey. As with the last book there is a contained investigation that solved in this book and also a larger story that continues developing from the first book.

I really am enjoying how complex, creative, and interesting this world is. A lot of new excellent characters are added to the story. Additionally both Falin and Death get a lot of page space and we learn more background on both of them. Alex also learns more about her past.

Alex is a fun and complex character to read about. She keeps learning new and interesting things about both her fey and grave powers; yet she is human too. She still needs to eat and sleep to keep functioning. She has a dark sense of humor, which I enjoy.

I am not a huge fan of love triangles, but I can make an exception for Death and Falin. Both of these male leads are just so darn interesting. We learn a lot more about Falin in this book and he is a complex character indeed. Death is still mostly a mystery though, while we learn a bit more about him, most of Death’s character is still shrouded in shadow.

I also enjoy that Alex has a price to pay for using her magic. This reminds me a bit of Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series and I love how having to pay a cost for magic balances out a character’s power.

The main investigation tied up nicely. The book is well written and easy to read. The whole story is very engaging and well-paced; never boring but never frantic either.

Overall I enjoyed this second book even more than Grave Witch. The world is complex and interesting, as are the characters. There are so many things to learn about and read about in this world, I was just absolutely sucked into the story. Highly recommended to fans of urban fantasy; especially to those who enjoy reading about the Fey.

Grave Memory: Alex Craft Series, Book 3

As a Grave Witch, Alex solves murders by raising the dead. While she's always been on friendly terms with Death himself, lately things have become a lot more personal. But the personal takes a backseat to the professional when a string of suicides occurs in Nekros City. The shades have no memory of the days leading up to their brutal endings, so despite the very apparent suicides, this is murder. And searching for the answers might mean Alex won't have a life to remember at all....

Alex Craft is back and better than ever before!

Alex Craft has landed another oh-my-god-this-can't-be-true case and is once again investigating the impossible. This time it's a string of suicides th..Show More »at are actually murders. Yeah, good luck proving that one! It's this strong detective-type backbone that keeps me coming back for more with each new installment. True, there's also a love triangle, alternate plains of existence and magic but it's the investigations that make these books good; the rest is just icing on the cake. In Grave Memory, Alex grows up, Death finally makes his choice and ghouls run amok. Alex Craft is back and better than ever before!

Our lil' grave witch is finally growing up! In this installment she opens up a Tongues For The Dead office, enlists the help of a couple of partners and makes responsible decisions. I enjoyed watching Alex leave her mark on Nekros City and face adversity head-on. I was surprised by her new attitude more than once; instead of wallowing in self-pity she buckles down and takes care of business. Alex doesn't run. She sticks by her friends, attempts to sort out her complicated love life and even manages to solve a case or two. Craft is dealing with a few internal problems as well namely her diminishing eyesight and a few new, not entirely human characteristics that have begun to manifest. Like she really needs any more challenges to add to her already gigantic pile!

The first 3/4th of this book progresses like the other two in this series; Alex follows various leads trying to solve a case. Interesting but nothing to phone home about. The last quarter is where the real meat is. We learn a few more tidbits about the Soul Collectors and score some serious Death face time which I've been craving since Grave Witch. I really enjoyed the pacing of this story. Whenever there's a lull in the action there's still plenty of witty dialogue and enough side plots to keep you entertained. I actually laughed out line a few times at some of Alex's one-liners. She finds herself in some pretty impossible situations yet still manages to laugh about them. Pay close attention to a scene involving a Ziploc bag. Just saying.

Emily Durante, the narrator, does a fantastic job of donning Alex's shoes. At first, her raspy almost pack-a-day smoker's voice annoyed me but after a few hours I no longer struggled to associate her with this series' heroine. She handles Craft's snark with ease and I even enjoyed her side character voices. Next time I won't think twice before buying an audiobook narrated by Miss Durante.

I should have known that Falin was down but not out. He pops up here and there throughout the story and then adds his two cents at the end to create another brutal cliffhanger. He just couldn't leave well enough alone could he? Generally love triangles piss me off more often than not but in this case I'm finding Price's to be wildly intriguing. The fun doesn't stop with Grave Memory; Kalayna has signed on for at least another three installments and I for one can't wait.